2/1/12

The Lights Went Out

The lights went out and the night was full and heavy all around. The sky was deep and ink colored; frightening to town dwellers used to the ever present glow that robbed the deep color from the black of the night sky. Suddenly, we had a view of sparkling stars, a spilling pathway across the heavens, and an awareness of how small we were in the vast scheme of the universe.

We also became so aware of the inability to see in that deep darkness of the night. Without a moon, the starlight did not provide enough light to feel secure in where we walked. We stumbled, shuffled, and carefully moved forward hoping to not fall and scrape a knee or worse. Two bobbing lights appeared and grew brighter and closer. Friends with flashlights coming to the rescue. Laughing now, in bravado, the earlier hesitancy forgotten, we head back to the group, the fires, and the company.

Sometimes we are lost in a the dark of the expanse of the mystery of life. The way is dark and hard to step with confidence. In those moments of caution, of fear, of uncertainty, we can remember that the word of God is a light to guide us, a lamp so our feet can walk in confidence to home and light and companionship.